Ethiopia awards Chinese rural development foundation for school feeding success

ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government has awarded the China Foundation for Rural Development (CFRD) for its far-reaching engagements in Ethiopia's school feeding endeavor.

The award, organized by the Addis Ababa City Administration, was presented to the CFRD by Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde on Sunday.

The CFRD received the recognition after the Ethiopian capital's school feeding program was conferred the Milan Pact Awards in sustainable nutrition from 133 cities last month in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was the only African city to have won the 2022 award.

Following the global recognition, the Addis Ababa city mayor's office organized the awarding event on Sunday to recognize key partners that have contributed to the success of the school feeding activities. The CFRD received the award along with the World Bank.

During the awarding event, Adanech Abiebie, Addis Ababa city mayor, underscored the crucial importance of effective cooperation in realizing the successes achieved.

Daniel Worku, CFRD program manager, who received the award on behalf of the CFRD Ethiopia Office, said the recognition will inject further impetus to deepen its engagements in Ethiopia.

Worku hailed the recognition as "the biggest accomplishment and new milestone for the CFRD and other actors on the mission to school feeding project."

"We are delighted for the contribution we have made and to have received the recognition from the hand of the Ethiopian president," Worku told Xinhua, as he emphasized the positive milestone achieved by the CFRD as the city administration successfully took over the initiative.

Since 2015, the CFRD has been undertaking various programs in Ethiopia, including the Panda Pack, Smiling Children, water cellar, water purification, and women employment training.

Data from CFRD show that by September 2022, the CFRD Ethiopia Office has benefited more than 250,000 Ethiopian people across all walks of life, with a particular emphasis on the most vulnerable people.

The CFRD, which started implementing various programs in Ethiopia in 2015 and officially registered as an international charitable organization in the eastern African country in July 2019, works to deepen the people-to-people ties between Ethiopia and China.

The CFRD's Ethiopia Office is one of the organization's three overseas offices, together with those in Myanmar and Nepal.